Latch-keeper for excavator-dippers.



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LATCH KEEPER FOR EXCAVATOR DIPPERS.

. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.20. 1915.

1,176,523. Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

,4 TTORNEYS EUGENE FORREST COLBATH, OF ROCKLAND LAKE, NEW YORK.

LATCH-KEEPER FOR EXCAVATOR-DIPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar: 21, 1916.

Application filed September 20, 1915. Serial No. 51,551.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE F. CoLBA'rH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rockland Lake, in the county of Rock land and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Latch-Keeper for Excavator-Dippers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to excavators or dredges and has particular reference to. the construction of dippers employed in excavating or dredging operations.

.Among the objects of the invention is to improve the construction of an excavator or'dredger dipper with reference especially to the latch keeper thereof for the door.

More definitely stated, in the practice of this invention I provide a latch keeper of peculiar construction whereby it is rendered more serviceable and efficient than latch keepers heretofore proposed, with respect to-strength and durability.

Another object of the invention is to provide a removable or interchangeable wear plate for the hilt of the latch keeper.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in'the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction. disclosed herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is bad to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dipper showing my improvement, a small portion being broken away to better indicate the construction; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the latch keeper and parts associated therewith; Fig. 3 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 2; and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail perspective views of slightly modified forms of wear plates.

Referring more particularly to the drawings I show at 10 a dipper of more or less conventional form and adapted to be manipulated in any suitable or well known manner. The dipper includes a bottom door 11 mounted to swing around an axis 12.

At 13 is indicated a latch slidable along guides 14 on the door 15. The latch keeper is somewhat of U-shape in form comprising inner and outer legs 16 and 17 respectively,

the inner leg being longer'than the other. The le are designed to straddle the lower edge 0 the dipper front 18 and are adapted to be securedrigidly to the dipper front by means of a plurality of rivets passing through holes 19 and 20.

A reinforcement plate 21 is secured to the outer face of the dipper front opposite the free end of the leg16.- The rear or bottom edge of the plate 21 ab lts against the short leg 17- and also against a shoulder 22 formed by the enlargement of the rear edge of the dipper front. with holes 20' which register with the holes 20 and thereby it is secured in place by several of the rivets or bolts securing the latch keeper in place. The front or upper edge of the plate 21 is beveled at 23 so as to facilitate the operation of the dipper through the material being treated.

The rear end or hilt 24 of the keeper is provided with a hole 25 adapted to receive the free end of the latch in looking position. In practice the latch has frictional engagement with the rear wall of the hole 2:1 and hence this part of the keeper is subjected to enormous strains of wear and friction. I provide, therefore, a seat 26 in said rear wall and this seat is fitted with a lug 27 and a wear late 28 which serves to face that part of t e hole subjected to excessive wear or friction from the latch. The lug 27 is provided, with a transverse hole 29 adapted to register with holes 30 formed through the side portions of the latch keeper and through which a locking pin 31 is passed and upset at its ends in countersinks, as shown best in Fig. 3. This pin 31 obviously may be easily driven out by the use of ordinary tools so that when one end of the wear plate becomes worn, the plate 28 may be replaced so asto present a fresh surface for cooperation with the'latch. The form of the plate in Fig. 5 is substantially the same as the other except that the lug 27 is rounded instead of angular. The lugs 27 and 27 cooperating. with the seat 26 provide a strong interlock between the wear plate and the hilt of the latch keeper. The only practical strain on the locking pin 31, therefore, is that required to hold the wear plate from dropping out of place.

I claim 1. The combination with an excavator dipper having a digging front and a movable bottom door, said front having a shoul- This plate, 21 is provided der adjacent its rear edge, of a latch carried by the door, and a keeper secured to the rear edge of the dipper face at the front, said keeper comprising a U-shaped member straddling the shoulder portion of the front, one leg of the keeper being longer than the other, and a reinforcement plate abutting rearwardly against said shoulder and the shorter leg and lying against that surface of the dipper front opposite the free end of the longer leg and fasteners passing through from the longer leg to both the shorter leg and the plate.

2. In a dipper, the combination with a body having a front, a door hinged to the 7 body and having its free edge closing adj aper front and having a hole adapted to receive the free end of the latch in locking position, the outer Wall of the hole being provided with; a transverse seat, and a Wear plate having a transverse lug at its middle portion interlocking with the keeper in said seat, said plate being adapted to receive the wear from the end of the latch.

EUGENE FORREST COLBATH. Witnesses: CHARLES COOK, Row. A. BRAHE. 

